MCKENZIE – Was Bethel’s 2013 season a sign the football program had fallen behind its competition? Or was it simply a one-year setback amid a pattern of past and future success?

If you’re a Bethel football player or coach, your work in the 2014 season will be about answering the second option.

For a program that had earned reason to expect success, 2013 was a humbling time that made all the Wildcats think about what they were doing and how they could do it better.

After a 2-9 season with few highlights, August sure feels pretty good.

“It’s one of those things where you don’t talk about it much, but everybody remembers that was here, that disappointment and the regrets you have,” Bethel coach Chris Elliott said. “After having a year like that people don’t want to go through that again.”

Last year’s opener against William Penn (Iowa) featured two ranked teams, but William Penn dominated in McKenzie and Bethel began its descent out of the rankings and eventually playoff contention.

William Penn is again the first opponent, this time Aug. 30 in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and offers a convenient comparison for us to see how much progress Bethel has made since a 34-8 loss in that game last year.

William Penn rushed 73 times for 292 yards that day, and an offense like that tests a defense’s discipline.

“Whatever it is that we’re doing, we want to do it better today than we did it yesterday,” Elliott said. “If we can keep that focus and continue to do that, by the time we get to Aug. 30 for that first game we should be in pretty good shape.”

The Wildcats will be without leading tackler Anthony Debonis at linebacker this season because Debonis got hurt in the spring, but Tyler Murray and Dustin Kincaid can be leaders there. Opposing quarterbacks who have scouted well might avoid throwing near defensive back Stoney Burns, and that can help Bethel limit big plays.

Lexington native Kerry Sellers will start at quarterback, though Elliott acknowledges the sophomore has limited experience with Bethel. Besides him and Wil Nicks, the others have none at all.

He insists Bethel has never asked its quarterbacks to win games for the team. That’s a good point, but the consistency of Jackson native Wil Masoud through 2012 and receivers like Justin Hazelray took pressure off the rest of the offense.

Expectations throughout the league for Bethel won’t be high. Cumberland (Tenn.) and Faulkner (Ala.) plan to return to the top of the West division, and a Belhaven (Miss.) team now coached by former Kentucky coach Hal Mumme has been an important game for good Bethel teams in the past.

Bethel plans to compete well with those teams like it did before last year. In the first few games, the Wildcats will get a chance to suggest how serious those plans are.

Craig Thomas, 425-9634

2013 Season

2-9 overall (0-5 Mid-South West)

Players to Watch

DB Stoney Burns, 5-9 sr., Orlando

2013 Stats: 37 tackles, eight INTs

RB Devan Raymer, 5-7 soph., Dresden

2013 Stats: 23 rushes, 5.8 yards per carry, one TD

WR/returner Quincy Walden, 5-5 soph., Medina (South Gibson)

2013 Stats: 11 catches, 12 rushes; 22 kick returns averaging 31 yards

Be There

Sept. 6 vs. Kentucky Christian, 1:30 p.m.

If Bethel has a decent season, there will be bigger games than this one. But regardless of how confident and optimistic the Wildcats are now, they could psychologically benefit from an early win and then move on to planning for more.